Kingston proposed parking rule could get test run

KINGSTON, N.Y. -- City lawmakers now are suggesting an alternate-side-of-the-street snow emergency parking plan be tested in one area before any action is taken on implementing it citywide.

The proposal, offered by Alderman Matthew Dunn, is drawing support from Alderman Robert Senor and Common Council Majority Leader Thomas Hoffay.

Earlier this month, the council's Laws and Rules Committee, which Senor chairs, voted unanimously to recommend the city's public works superintendent be able to declare a snow emergency as soon as the National Weather Service issues a snow advisory. At present, a snow emergency is declared only after 3 inches of snow have accumulated in Kingston, and it requires that all parked vehicles be moved off city streets.

The committee also endorsed a rule change that would put in place an alternate-side-of-the-street parking rule in the event of a snow emergency. The rule would require vehicles to be moved to the odd-numbered side of a street initially and to the even-numbered side after 24 hours so that both sides could be plowed.

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Senor, D-Ward 8, voted in favor of the plan but has backed off since, saying he thinks it would cause "nightmares" in city neighborhoods.

He now sides with Dunn, D-Ward 1, who also voted in favor of the proposed regulations, saying Dunn's idea of experimenting in one neighborhood before implementing the parking plan citywide probably is a good idea.

Senor suggested areas of the Fifth Ward but said he wouldn't mind the plan being tested in any ward -- except his own.

"I only support this as a compromise" Senor said.

Senor said the Common Council could get a consensus for a particular neighborhood at its Feb. 4 caucuses, in time for a vote at the Feb. 5 council meeting.

Council President James Noble believes that targeting a particular neighborhood will take study and more time to iron out than just one meeting.

Dunn said he has heard both support for and opposition to the alternate-side-of-the-street plan.

"Some support alternate-side parking and some do not," Dunn said. "Residents are rightfully concerned about new snow-removal rules that would begin in the middle of winter."

He added, however, that "sometimes changes are necessary to make sure that the city best serves its citizens. ...

"I support a pilot program to determine if this is an effective and efficient solution to snow removal," Dunn said.

Hoffay, D-Ward 2, said he, too, likes the idea of a pilot program. And he said he wouldn't mind testing it in neighborhoods he represents.

Hoffay suggested the Common Council could pass the regulation as it stands now on a citywide basis but leave it to city Public Works Superintendent Michael Schupp to decide which neighborhood would become the test case.

The citywide implementation of the alternate-side parking plan has the support of both Schupp, who came up with the idea, and Mayor Shayne Gallo.